Skip to main content

tv   Americas Newsroom  FOX News  February 7, 2013 6:00am-8:00am PST

6:00 am
6:01 am
>> steve: she rose through the military's ranks to become the highest ranking african-american female in the navy. we'll bring her inspiring story, part of our special series celebrating black history month. you don't want to miss it. >> gretchen: log on for our after the show show. more with bob massi down in florida on foreclosures. have a great day. >> brian: see you on radio. martha: we have breaking news on a very dangerous situation unfolding in california. there is an ongoing manhunt outside of los angeles. this is brand-new video that just came in to fox.
6:02 am
former lapd officer expected in a deadly series of shootings. they are urging people to call 911 immediately if they see this man. he's christopher edward dorner. good morning. i'm martha mccallum. rick: i'm rick folbaum. he's wanted in connection with the murder of two people. police say he also shot three police officers, killing one of them. >> we are asking for the public's help in finding him. we have strong cause to believe dorner is armed and dangerous. martha: police say he promised more violence on a chilling
6:03 am
manifesto shortly before this got underway. >> reporter: dramatic events here in california. the man believed to have shot the officers was named last night by authorities as a suspect in the double murder of a basketball coach and his fiance in irvine. they were found shot in their car in the parking lot of their apartment complex in irvine. he wrote this manifesto in which he implicates himself in the deaths. that threat includes kwon's father. he represented the former cop in a disciplinary hearing.
6:04 am
his whereabouts were unknown, but two police officers in riverside were shot and rushed to a local hospital where one of those officers died. it's being reported shortly after that shooting at 1:45 in nearby corona his truck appeared outside a house where lapd officers were on a security detail. police believe he got out of the truck and opened fire on the officers. in summary we have one police officer dead. one seriously injured and another wounded in all. police say dorner is still at large. they have cause to believer he's armed and dangerous. they are searching for him in the western portion of riverside county. they are warning the public to
6:05 am
call 911 if they see him and stay clear of him if they do see him. martha: the police officers in the second round of this were protecting somebody who was named in his manifesto, correct? >> reporter: absolutely. witness protection. he found out where they were and they have gone round to try and harm that individual. we haven't got any confirmation who may be. the events are unfolding at the moment and clearly him still at large. martha: there was one quote that i read that may have come from this manifesto. something about him saying that he didn't have a chance to have a family and he wanted to hurt the family of this man who was a former policeman who represented
6:06 am
him in his hearing after which he was fired. he's clearly very angry about being fired from the force. >> reporter: i have got manifesto here. it runs 22 pages in total in which he rambles on and talks about everyone. he says this is a necessary evil i do not enjoy but must partake for a substantial change to occur. martha: we'll get more into the heart of this as we continue this morning. dominic, thank you very much. we'll bring you any updates. sign up for our breaking news alerts on the web site foxnews.com. when you are out of the house you will get these updates on your mobile device. rick: the national prayer
6:07 am
breakfast. president obama showing up and beginning his remarks. we'll continue to stream this on foxnews.com for those of you who would like to listen to the president's remarks at the national prayer breakfast. leon panetta on the hot seat on the subject of benghazi. the chief is expected to testify about the pentagon's response to the attack on ought consulate. he said the u.s. didn't have enough time to respond. he says it's not like you can pick up the phone and call 911. mike emanuel is on the hill. set the stage for us on this hearing. >> reporter: it's designed to address the concerns of south carolina senator lindsey graham who threatened to hold up the confirmation for chuck hagel,
6:08 am
his successor. so what did the president know about the benghazi attack september 11, when did he know about it and what did he do about it? sources i talked to say panetta and others are carrying out the orders of the commander-in-chief. so what were they and how were they handled. expect fireworks. rick: later on this afternoon the president's nominee the head of the cia takes center stage. >> reporter: expect john brenner to get plenty of questions about the use of enhanced interrogation techniques during this time at cia. he left there in 2005. at the white house they are emphasizing brennan's experience. >> mr. brennan brings, i think,
6:09 am
not on a vast amount of experience, but a significant perspective on the battles that we wage in this effort. and the right way to conduct them. so the president believes the senate should and will confirm john brennan expeditiously. >> reporter: expect him to get questions about how involved he was in interrogation techniques at the cia. rick: senator lindsey graham will be at today's hearing on benghazi. the top carolina republican joins us later right here in america's newsroom. martha: just hours to go before the cia nominee john brennan
6:10 am
testifies. mr. brennan helped manage the drone program. he is very supportive of it and has spoken out on it's times. it represents a concession about it white house, do it not? >> reporter: it does. the president acting a week and a half after a group of bipartisan senators asked for the legal opinion that justifies drone attacks against americans abroad. but others say it doesn't answer how much evidence the president needs. does he need to give the person a chance to surrender. this morning he seemed only partly satisfied. >> what we have done yesterday isn a step in the right direction. but there are substantial questions about what kind of evidence is appropriate in these
6:11 am
kinds of operations. whether the individual can be captured. there are issues with respect to the geographics of the operation. the checks and balances have been out of whack in the past and that's what we have to change. >> reporter: three americans have been killed by drones. anwar al-awlaki, his son and samir kahn all killed in yemen. martha: the civil libertarians are challenging the constitutionality of these attacks. >> reporter: the white house says the attacks are justified. but going to war against an
6:12 am
uncharted territory suggests congress should make the rules a lot clearer. >> we need to put a legal architecture in place, and we need congressional help so that not only am i reined in, but future presidents will be reined in. there are tradeoffs. there are bad folks on the other side of the world and you have to make a call and it's not optimal. >> reporter: john brennan says the attacks should be conducted by the military more than his agency. rick: iranian state television is airing footage it claims was taken by a cia drone captured in 2011. it shows an aerial view of an airport and city said to be kandahar, afghanistan. we have not confirmed if the
6:13 am
video is legit. but we reached out to the defense department for details. u.s. officials said the drone malfunctioned and had to land. martha: u.s. national security taking its first big hit from looming defense budget cuts. we'll tell you what it is beginning to cut right now and why we are spending less on defense when our enemies are starting to spend a lot more. rick: millions of americans are bracing for what is expected to be a major winter storm. a live report from the fox weather center is coming up. martha: republicans are blasting the president's plan to delay spending cuts known as the sequester. john boehner says it's time to stop kicking the can down the road. >> washington desperately needs adult leadership.
6:14 am
that's why republicans have twice voted to replace the sequester with common sense program that protect our national defense.
6:15 am
6:16 am
6:17 am
martha: there evidence looming massive budget cuts is taking a toll on our defense. the pentagon is cutting our aircraft carriers from two to one to save money. look at these numbers. by 2015, russia's defense spending as part of their gdp is expected to surpass the u.s. for the first time since the collapse of the soviet union. what would be the ramifications of that. other estimates show china is surpassing america in defense spending by 2035. glad to be joined by eric
6:18 am
erickson *. good to have you with us today. what do you think about this? the news is out of the white house they will drop from two aircraft carriers to one in the persian gulf. should that concern americans? >> i think it probably should. this administration has shown itself to rely on drones and technology. hillary clinton mentioned this was a problem at the state department. we can bet it was a problem at the defense department. but this administration wants to put its faith there. we need manpower. in reality we still spend more than anyone else. but with iran heating up i don't think it's wise for us to be cutting back there. martha: how much of this is p.r. for lack of a better word in terms of alarming people. if you don't come to some sort
6:19 am
of deal in washington you will see and hear more about losing presence in areas like the persian gulf? >> i think have much so. you have got republicans want to go pull back on sequestration. you have got the democrats wanting to. i think this is posturing for the white house trying to show republicans who are ostensibly the pro-defense party, we are going to make cutbacks in areas you don't want to cutback if the sequestration doesn't go through. martha: defense is one of the most important parts of the budget. if the see questionser kicks in is it an across the board cut that isn't an intelligent way of taking a look at where those cuts should be? >> that's what they would have you believe. it's going to be $42 billion in
6:20 am
real cuts. and each department can predict where the cuts will be. but there are areas that can be cut without cutting boots on the ground. could they have done a better job? yes. they could cut the civilian workforce for the federal government instead of the military. but the white house wants to use this as leverage thinking the republicans may have the upper hand and they want the upper hand. martha: do republicans have the upper hand in the next stage of the sequester issue? >> they kind of do right now with the continuing resolution looming. they have card to play they didn't have to play in the debt ceiling. martha: how do you expect that to play out? do you think they can hold the line on it and get significant spending cuts that a lot of folks in this country wanted to see first time around? >> republicans have become good
6:21 am
at caving. i think some part of sequestration will go through. but using aircraft carriers against the republicans. they will fold. rick: we are three weeks away from what could be painful budget cuts. they kick in automatically march 1. we'll tell you what americans find so taxing about the president's plan to fix the mess. martha: get ready for a blizzard. a winter storm historic proportions we are being told. >> now is the time before the storm hits. get your shovels ready. sand, fill your gas tanks in your cars. make sure you have enough heating fuel. you know, for at least a week.
6:22 am
sometimes life can be well, a little uncomfortable. but when it's hard or hurts to go to the bathroom, there's dulcolax stool softener. dulcolax stool softener doesn't make you go, it just makes it easier to go. dulcolax stool softener. make yourself comfortable.
6:23 am
6:24 am
6:25 am
martha: let's look at what's developing right now in america's newsroom. we are being told the tsunami in the pacific wiped out five villages in the solomon islands. nine bodies have been recovered so far and that number is expected to rise. a report says american airlines is ready to merge with u.s. airways. sources tell us it will happen next week. the merger could create the largest airline in the whole world. how about this one? virginia is one step closer to getting its own monetary system. state lawmakers are look at whether the state should ado it own currency. that move is spurred by distrust
6:26 am
of america's central bank. rick: we are watching what could turn into a crippling winter storm. boston seems to be in the bull's-eye. janice dean has been busy at the fox weather center. >> reporter: march has has been wanting a -- martha has been wanting a snowstorm since october which we did get. here is some of the local forecasters saying 2 inches, 6 inches, 12 inches. we are not sure. we have a clipper system moving in towards the northeast. and a form across the south. a lot of moisture associated with this one. combined that will give us an historic storm we think for boston. so you drive in on friday.
6:27 am
i95 corridor messy. you see that line north of philadelphia. we'll see snow we think in the morning in new york. then it will hover. we'll see a rain-snow mix. if this becomes more of a snow event we could see a foot of snow in new york city. boston, portland, hartford, connecticut. it will be a snow event. we could see two feet in some isolated amount, maybe three feet. this storm winds up, it gets cranked up friday into saturday night. that's when the worst of the conditions are going to be. we have blizzard watches in effect for rhode island, massachusetts, connecticut and up towards new hampshire. that's going to be tricky as we can get wind gusts 50-60 miles an hour. we could see snow drifts of 4 feet. this computer model giving us 9 inches in new york city.
6:28 am
28 inches in boston. that would be a number one snowstorm, blockbuster snowstorm if we got close to 29 inches in boston. and that's within the realm of possibility. taking a look at the winter weather advisories in the blues and pinks. we could see gifts up to 30 miles per hour. and where you see the red within that's our blizzard watches where we could see wind gusts in excess of 70 miles an hour. you can see the bull's-eye where we could see two feet plus. maybe even three feet. i know rick is there. if you want a snowstorm we need reporters in boston. martha: i could go to boston and cover the snowstorm. it's great for the vermont ski places. >> reporter: it's coming friday night into saturday. martha: you wait for the sun to
6:29 am
come out and you don't have a shoveling issue to deal with. thank you, janice. we'll see you soon. rick: you are talking a little snow, not 3-4 feet. that's a lot of snow. martha: we have a huge story out of los angeles. there is a massive manhunt under eye right now for a former policeman who is accused of gunning dune fivgunning down fi. police found a manifesto that he wants to carry out more violence than that. [ male announcer ] eligible for medicare?
6:30 am
6:31 am
6:32 am
that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, they help save you up to thousands in out-of-pocket costs. call today to request a free decision guide. with these types of plans, you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients... plus, there are no networks, and you'll never need a referral to see a specialist. join the millions who have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp... and provided by unitedhealthcare insurance company, which has over 30 years of experience behind it. with all the good years ahead,
6:33 am
look for the experience and commitment to go the distance with you. call now to request your free decision guide. martha: breaking news in an intense los angeles manhunt this morning. these are pictures we have just gone the in from the scene where we know three people have been killed as this tense situation is unfolding in southern california. a manhunt is underway for a former lapd officer who is suspected in these shootings. police are warning the public to contact 911 immediately if they see this man. his name is christopher jordan dorner. the truck we are look at in that shot, we believe that may be his truck. you can see it's dark still in los angeles. but the doors are open on that police car in the middle of that road as the police are trying desperately to stop this man
6:34 am
before he gets to anyone else. they believe he shot and killed one officer in the l.a. suburb of corona who was protecting the house of someone else who was on the hit list. he killed the daughter of a former police officer with whom he iced to work. that former police officer represented him in a hearing in which he was fired from the police force. it would appear he was angry with how that situation resolved. he set out to it would appear, seek revenge against this man who represented him in the hearing by killing that man's daughter and her fiance. this is a live shot over what is an inference manhunt in los angeles. listen to what they said moment ago. >> there are several things happening now. the detectives are following up on the criminal aspect and other officers are trying to locate the suspect.
6:35 am
>> your officers were ambushed. >> yes, they were ambushed. martha: those officers are protecting the home of someone on that man's hit list. the reports are he got out of his truck and shot them on the doorstep of this home. an awful situation. we'll have brand-new pictures coming in any moment. rick werehington facing a march 1 deadline before deep spending cuts kick in. a package of spending cuts and tax reforms the gop is saying it's more of the same. >> at some point washington has to deal with its spending problem. i have watched them kick this can count road for 22 years that i have been here. i have had enough of it. it's time to act. >> the president want to continue down the path
6:36 am
insinuating taxpayers have got to put more money in when the problem is spending. rick: we just had on our newest fox news contributor, eric erickson * who said the republicans will cave again. >> i tend to agree with ache on that. we have seen a pattern of behavior on the part of republicans and president obama. the president has shown himself to be fundamentally unserious about the budget process. this last budgets have been so obscene he can't even get a democrat to vote for it and the republicans are cowardly, refusing to stand up to the president and fight for real tax reform and entitlement reform which has to be done. the cbo, the non-partisan congressional budget office released their 10-year
6:37 am
projection. they are projecting the federal government will spend over the next 10 years $47.1 trillion. that means that spending is going up across the board in every program in every department except for defense over the next couple years. we cannot go on like that. the republicans owe it to the american people to at least be that thin red line between us and total destruction. rick: did they not read the cbo reports at the white house. how can the president put forth a solution that doesn't include spending cuts. >> he says he's working towards spending cuts as part of a short-term solution. they saw for the first time the defend cities under a trillion dollars. $945 billion. so moving in the right direction. but i agree with monica that we need a comprehensive solution. where i would part company, if
6:38 am
we are going to have the robust defense we need, it's hard when you have a defense carrier, the u.s.s. harry truman that we can't afford to send to the middle east when we need it there. we need a balanced package of tax reform, tax cuts and some revenue raising to go along with spending cuts and entitlement reform. we need a comprehensive package. it needs to be bipartisan. we need, rick, to stop the name calling. rick: john boehner says he will go along with the sequester as opposed to having to take a bad deal. but there are some republican lawmakers who say let's make a deal here. a lot of republicans are watching their elected leaders saying we are back up on our heels again. >> that's the outstanding question for the republicans. they have to stand for something.
6:39 am
they have more cards to play this time than they did in the fiscal cliff deal. they have the debt looming. that cbo report is projecting -- this is a low-ball estimate. 26.6 trillion dollars in national debt by the next 10 years. something has to be done. i find it interesting that speaker boehner said i have been around this town for 20-some-odd years and we have seen the same thing. enough republicans have gone down this road of big spending over decades and that's why we are in this predicament. this is a providential moment for republicans. call the presidential's bluff. tax reform to get growth going. entitlement reform. let's go. they should stand up for it and go down fighting if they have
6:40 am
to. rick: good to see you both. martha: we are waiting for a major announcement from boeing on those battery problems that ground their state of the arm dreamliner fleet and forced track wases. the planes could get back in the air. it's anybody's guess. we'll update you. rick: we are minutes away from a hearing on the deadly benghazi attack that killed four americans including our ambassador. republican senator lindsey graham will join us to tell us what he needs to hear from the secretary to get to the bottom of this.
6:41 am
6:42 am
6:43 am
martha: we are moments away from a big hearing on the benghazi
6:44 am
terror attack. outgoing defense secretary leon panetta has been pressed to make this appearance and he will do this this morning. south carolina senator lindsey graham has wanted this opportunity to question leon panetta about what he knew and what the president knew about what was unfolding in benghazi that night. we are pleased to have the senator with us. a lot of questions obviously are still out there. i think a lost people moved beyond this benghazi story. but i know it was very important to you before we got a new defense secretary to question the current one. >> why didn't they respond in a better fashion. how could these people be left for 7 hours and what did our chief barack obama to come to the aid of these people. i want to nope in detail what
6:45 am
the president's actions were. we know everything they did in the bin laden raid, they are making two movies about it and when know virtually nothing about his leadership. we want to find out what the president did. martha: in the hillary clinton hearing there was a lot of questioning and not a lot of answers. a lot of time was taken up posing the questions. do you expect a different tenor and different pace? where was the president during those hours and why did you call this a 911 call. >> during the hearing you only get five minutes -- i hope we have two round. the first thing i want to know is what did the president do, what orders did he make, if he ordered assistance to be rendered, at what point did he give that order. why did no one show up. general dempsey says the military respond appropriately.
6:46 am
i will ask them what is an inappropriate response. the system failed. but the person i blame the most for benghazi is president obama. it's his foreign policy strategy that aloud this conflict to become a death trap. he's the one to share the blame above all others. martha: senator mccain poibtsd out the last two seals were killed in the final hour of a 7-hour siege. it makes the argument you can't respond to the second 911 call and they can't get there in time a little more complicated, doesn't it? >> it it's a system failure. when general dempsey says the d.o.d. responded appropriately. i think not. not one d.o.d. asset reached these people for over 7 hours. i just find it dumbfounding to believe that we could not
6:47 am
provide any military assistance on 9/11 of all days. and given the history of the threat. reports out of libya and the terror situation. this is a system failure. no one is pressing the president. the mainstream media is giving the obama administration a pass and that needs to stop. martha: we'll hear from the cia, the man who is expected to be the head of the cia, downbrennan, there is so much focus on the drone issue. i want to get your thoughts on that. i know you are supportive of that program overall. do you think that because of the drone issue that john brennan will get a pass on what he knew because we haven't heard from him on that. >> isn't that a good question in the counter terrorism director of the united states has not said one word about the actions he took when he was notified. there is a joint task force by law that is supposed to meet when there is a terrorist
6:48 am
attack. they weren't even called into session. i'll ask panetta why that is so. no one has asked john brennan anything about benghazi. he's in the chain of command to do something about it. it's dumbfounding the lack of scrutiny this administration has had regarding benghazi. martha: we know hillary clinton was basically up all night trying to get help in the area from the libyan government. we don't know where yawn brennan was, we don't know where the president was during those hours and we know john brennan did not choose to appear on the sunday shows to explain what happened. there is a question why that would be, right? >> one thing i can say about secretary clinton. she could not have had a clear eyed understanding of the threats what he face in benghazi, libya if she didn't know of the august 16 memo from ambassador chris stevens saying we can't defend the place
6:49 am
against a coordinated terrorist attack and al qaeda flags are flying all over benghazi. her statement that the state department had a clear idea of the threat makes no sense. if we are getting cables from our ambassadors throughout the world, we can't defend consulates, we are in trouble. martha: let's talk about the drone program. i want to ask you about what you think. i know you are supportive of the president's drone program as you were of president bush's take on the war on terror. do you think john brennan will be pressed on this issue and what about the hypocrisy leveled against those who were anti-president bush's war on terror and have no problem with the drone program. >> the hypocrisy is stunning. the drone program to kill high-level al qaeda operatives
6:50 am
serves our fashion security issues. anwar lookingi think the drone e us safe. but here is where obama let us down. we captured one person in the last four years because he won't use gitmo. we are losing a lot of intelligence. dead men don't give you much information. i like the drone program. but i don't like that they are not capturing terrorists. dead men don't talk. martha: senator lindsey graham, thank you so much. we'll watch with great interest the hearing and your questions today. rick: stunning allegations against a california green energy company. allegations that they grossly underpaid its workers and they paid them in pesos.
6:51 am
martha: in california the hunt for a former policemen accused of killing five people. look at the scene on the ground here. he is suspected of killing a beloved basketball coach and her fiance and a policeman. >> she was our team leader on the team. she was always there to help pick somebody else up. she is going to be missed. martha: a heartbreaking situation and ongoing manhunt on the ground. oh! progress-oh! [ female announcer ] with 40 delicious progresso soups at 100 calories or less, there are plenty of reasons people are saying "progress-oh!"
6:52 am
share your progress-oh! story on facebook.
6:53 am
people are saying "progress-oh!" when i take a picture of this check, it goes straight to the bank. oh. oh look the lion is out! no mommy no! don't worry honey, it only works on checks. deposit checks from your smartphone with chase quickdeposit. just snap a picture, hit send and done. take a step forward and chase what matters.
6:54 am
rick: in corona, california we are getting word on the manhunt for a former los angeles police
6:55 am
officer who is wanted in the murder of three people including one police officer. he's also accused of shooting two others. this is the corona police department talking with their search for this suspect just moment sea go. let's take a listen. >> today about 1:24 this morning. l.a.p.d. officers were en route to a special detail related to the search for christopher dorner. they were flagged down in this area by a witness who gave them information who they believe they observed dorne. officers observed that a suspect matching that description entered a blue nissan, the officers began to follow that vehicle about two blocks, two freeways north on the 15 exiting magnolia. immediately exiting the freeway the officers made that turn to
6:56 am
eastbound where the suspect exited the vehicle, went out of the vehicle immediately with a shoulder weapon and started to shoot at the officers. the officers took cover. returned fire. both officers. and one of our officers was grazed. the other officer is uninjured. the suspect immediately entered the vehicle, entered his vehicle and continued eastbound out of the area. our officers requested help. corona p.d. respond and assisted us. at this time for the next several hours on the investigative stage of what happened. rick: christopher dorner is still on the loose. he's considered armed and dangerous. wanted in the murder of three people, including a police officer. he lost his job on the police
6:57 am
force. he made up an accusation against a superior officer. he was found to have lied. he has written a manifesto promising to kill more police officers as we learn more about this scary story we'll bring it to you. martha: apparently he had a number of people on his list including the father of the young lady he shot and killed in her car with her fiance. her father randy kwan was a former police officer. then he became an attorney and he represented this man, christopher dorner in his complaint against the police department after which he was fired. that seems to be the source of his disgruntlement that's we are facing today. also coming up. senator rand paul making a break from his libertarian views? why his reference to ronald reagan is getting a whole lot of attention today. rick: we are minutes away from defense secretary leon panetta
6:58 am
hitting the hot seat on capitol hill. the hearing on benghazi coming up next. >> the security in benghazi was a struggle and remained a struggle throughout my time there. the situation remains uncertain and reports from some libyans indicated it what is getting worse. in april there was only one u.s. diplomatic security agent stationed there. hen our cab wen, it took forever to get it fixed. and now they want us to get our home security from them? bundle it with our other services? no, thank you. my family's too important for that. i want real help when i need it. not, "please, wait while we connect you to the... ...next available policeman." [ male announcer ] are you ready to trust your family's security to the cable company? adt is america's most trusted name in security, and our fast-response monitoring helps protecyou from burglary, fire, and high levels of carbon monoxide 24/7. some cable companies outsource monitoring to a third party, which makes you wonder about their expertise. so, who do you want on the other end of the line when your family's safety is on the line,
6:59 am
a third party, or the company you trust? adt. and for a limited time, get a bundle you can live with. installation starting at just $49 with 24/7 monitoring starting at just over $1 a day. i want a company whose first priority... ...is to help save lives. [ male announcer ] you can afford the best. adt, starting at $49. call now. adt. always there. that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, they pick up some of what medicare doesn't pay. and save you up to thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs. call today to request a free decision guide to help you better understand what medicare is all about. and which aarp medicare supplement plan
7:00 am
works best for you. with these types of plans, you'll be able to visit any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients... plus, there are no networks, and you'll never need a referral to see a specialist. there's a range of plans to choose from, too. and they all travel with you. anywhere in the country. join the millions who have already enrolled in the only medicare supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp, an organization serving the needs of people 50 and over for generations... and provided by unitedhealthcare insurance company, which has over 30 years of experience behind it. ll tod helps cover some of what medicare doesn't pay -- expenses that could really add up. these kinds of plans could save you up to thousands in out-of-pocket costs... you'll be able choose any doctor who accepts medicare patients. and you never need referrals.
7:01 am
so don't wait. with all the good years ahead, look for the experience and commitment to go the distance with you. call now to request your free decision guide. this easy-to-understand guide will answer some of your questions, and help you find the aarp medicare supplement plan that's right for you. martha: fox news alert right now. we are moments away from a new hearing on benghazi. lawmakers are finally getting to hear from the outgoing secretary of defense leon panetta. a lot of people have been waiting for this moment. it's a brand-new hour of america apartments newsroom. i'm martha maccallum. >> i'm rick folbaum. rick: the testimony from secretary leon panetta has been highly anticipated on the hill. it's likely to sparks will fly. national security correspondent jennifer griffin joining us from
7:02 am
washington. jennifer, what do you think the questions are that st*eb secretary panetta will be asked? >> reporter: one of the top questions starting from the beginning is why were he and chairman dempsey not told for 50 minutes after the attack began and after the personal locater button of ambassador christopher stevens had already been pressed, that is according to the dod's only timeline that they released. when did they tell president obama? did they wait until their meeting at the white house that occurred at 5:00pm herein on the dave the attack, did they wait to tell the president and john bren on, or were they alerted right away. if they waited why did they wait. why was the marine fast team told to off-load the plane which delayed them by 90 minutes and change out of their marine uniforms into civilian clothes? that was a delay, it won't have allowed them to get there in
7:03 am
time to help ambassador stevens but it was indyk tougher of a mentality of not wanting to send any sort of military presence into libya. why wasn't the fast team sent to benghazi where they could have secured the consulate and the cia annex so that the f.b.i. could get in? it took the f.b.i. 24 days to get in because the areas were not secure and at that point all of the evidence was not very useful. there are so many questions about why did the team from benghazi, the team that included several special operations forces from the army believe, and why were they told that fast fliers, that is air cover would be above benghazi when they arrived, but when they lived there were no fast fliers, there was no air cover and has martha has been reporting after talking to senator graham it was a full seven hours before tyrone woods and glen doherty were killed.
7:04 am
so a lot of questions for the military response, rick. rick: a lot of people have been asking about how much the pentagon knew, if anything about the cia's presence in benghazi and whether or not that may have played a role in the delay of any kind of a military response. is that likely to come up? >> reporter: i think it's very interesting in the statement department's arb report, the after action review, general carter hamm said that he wasn't aware that there was such a large group of americans operating out of benghazi. he is the head of africom, why did he not know that the cia had such a large presence there. what they were doing? i think senator rand paul was trying to get at that when he was questioning secretary of state hillary clinton last week. take a listen. >> my question is, is the u.s. involved with any procuring of weapons, transfer of weapons, buying, selling, anyhow transferring weapons to turkey out of libya?
7:05 am
>> to turkey? i will have to take that question for the record. nobody has ever raised that with me. >> reporter: secretary of state clinton asked surprised but what senator mall was getting at was that those weapons may have been being repackaged and sent via turkey to syria. last weekend a new york times report suggested that secretary clinton and david petraeus as head of the cia last summer went to the white house and asked for permission to start arm -rg the syrian rebels. so a lot of questions related to what the cia was doing in benghazi. rick: jennifer griffin previewing today's hearing. thank you so much. martha: jennifer raises so many interesting points about what we hope we'll hear some of at this hearing. let's bring in ambassador john bolton, former u.n. ambassador and contribut fox news
7:06 am
contributor. martha: why the fast team was asked to deplane and change out of military uniform, it would appear because we didn't want to have a military presence on the ground and there may be good reasons for that. we haven't heard any answers to those questions. >> one reason is that in the hearings where hillary clinton was asked last week she wasn't asked very many questions. you want to find out questions you can't make statements. these rounds will maybe be five minutes long. if they make a statement to secretary panetta just like secretary clinton they'll get questions back. they have to be specific and call for one or two word answers. any question that begins with why will get a 4 minimum 35 a second answer. martha: where was the president during this whole 7 hour time. >> how long did the conversation
7:07 am
last, when did you talk to him. i think, though, secretary panetta has a range of other things where he should be asked questions. what was your knowledge of the security situation in libya before the attack, not simply with respect to the embassy and the consulate but about the general presence and growth and spread of al-qaida in libya. i think he can also be asked, who made up the story that the whole benghazi attack was an outgrowth of a demonstration caused by the mohammed video. martha: just for your viewers at home, carl levin is doing some of the introductory remarks here, when this gets interesting we will open it up and make sure you can hear what is going on in that room. in the meantime you touched on what i think is the largest question here, what is the administration posture on al-qaida in north africa. do they believe we are in a war on terror? were they concerned that it was a spreading and growing threat
7:08 am
in northern africa? or did they think they had sporadic outbursts to deal with on that day to what we are told was a video. how much do you think we will get to the heart of the matter of that? >> i don't think we're going to get much here that differs from the administration line. but president obama said in his acceptance speech at the democratic convention on september the 6th, knife days beforfive days before the attack on benghazi, child is on the road to defeat. that's why so many people are skeptical about the stories that the administration told, the line about the mohammed video, because obviously the deaths of an ambassador and three of his colleagues directly contradicts and is sad testimony to the error of the argument that the war on terror is almost over and that al-qaida is close to being defeated. and what we've seen in north africa since the attack has only
7:09 am
demonstrated how broad al-qaida's influence has become, it's ability to control a territory in northern mali, the size of texas, the attack on the natural gas in a silt i facility in algeria over 40 hostages killed. the turmoil across the middle east and north africa shows america stra teen i can interests are under grave threat and we have no effective policy. martha: what do you make of this question of whether or not -- what they were up to at that cia annex and whether or not it had to do with moving weapons from -- through one place, possibly to support the rebels in syria? >> well that story is out there. that's a possible explanation. i'd be stunned even under the obama administration if that were true. another explanation is they were simply trying to buy up man pad and other weapons out there on
7:10 am
the open market. i think secretary panetta can legitimately be asked that. we saw in the slip you ran that secretary clinton took a botched question by senator paul, he wasn't talking about sending the missiles to the turkish government, he was talking about the rumor they were going to the syrian opposition, but secretary clinton outsmarted him on that and avoided answering the question. somebody ought to try it again. martha: ambassador we will see. thank you so much. we'll speak with you soon. rick: we'll keep our eye on the hearing in washington and go become to california for the latest on an intense manhunt that is underway, a former l.a.p.d. officer suspected of going on a deadly shooting rampage, killing at least three people so far, including a police officer. we'll have the latest. martha: you just heard him mention ago kentucky senator rand paul raising eyebrows east compares him toefl to ronald reagan. we'll ask eupl what he meant by this. rick: the family of an american
7:11 am
pastor eupl prison ned iran says he is losing home that he'll ever come back home. wao*efplee talk to a group leading international efforts to free him. that is straight ahead. >> the phone calls are cut off, the kid won't be able to hear their dad's voice. it's very devastating that not until they are teenagers, they are todd hrerts right now, that they will ever hear their dad's voice or see him. to grow, we have to boost our social media visibility.
7:12 am
more "likes." more tweets. so, beginning today, my son brock and his whole team will be our new senior social media strategists. any questions? since we make radiator valves wouldn't it be better if we just let fedex help us to expand to new markets? hmm gotta admit that's better than a few "likes." i don't have the door code. who's that? he won a contest online
7:13 am
to be ceo for the day. how am i supposed to run a business here without an office?! [ male announcer ] fast, reliable deliveries worldwide. fedex.
7:14 am
rick: hro*er fox news alert. we'll been telling but an intense manhunt way in california. a former l.a.p.d. officer is suspected in a series of deadly shooting. we have a picture of him. 33-year-old christopher jordan dorner. police say he shot three police officers killing one of them. he's also wanted for two other murders this week alone, the shooting death of a 28-year-old woman, monica kwan the daughter of a retired l.a.p.d. captain. her fiance who was with her also shot and killed. here is the sergeant releasing
7:15 am
new details on the suspect just a little while ago. >> how tense is this situation? >> extremely tense. obviously we call this a manhunt. we are looking at all avenues to identify where he may be, where he might be going, and when we do that we approach it cautiously because of the propensity he has already season. >> bo diddle is a former homicide detective. this is an awful story and it has the potential too get worst. >> this is one of the most desperate thing. you have a guy out there that shot three police officers, killing one, killed two people. this will end in a very ugly way. the manifesto is out there where he kreud why h described why he killed the other two people. he's trying to kill cops. these officers have to protect other officers, have to protect the people. this person has shown he's ready to kill anybody. when they come up on him these officers have to be able to shoot their guns and do what
7:16 am
they have to do because this guy doesn't look like he's going to go down and surrender. we hope he surround tker he vendors. vend vendors, i don't think this will end in a happy way. rick: in the man necessary tow he promised to bring conversational and asa met tra cal warfare to those in l.a.p.d. uniform whether on or off-duty. this is a former military guy too as well. what do you make of the manifesto? >> the manifesto already has mentioned about why he killed the other people, they were the relatives of the judge -- i mean the lawyer in the court case. the problem here is you've got uniformed officers that have to be careful there. he could come up on a radio car and just shoot them if this is what his intentions are going to be. all those officers out there in uniform, out of uniform you must be able to look around, have an omni presence. this guy is a big by, he's
7:17 am
270-pound, 6'1", he's a big man and he's officers out there have to have an omni presence at all times. this guy is liable to shoot at any officer in uniform or without a uniform. this is a very, very thing that is occurring, i think it's one of the most serious thing that can happen. this guy is not going to go away he's leave. if these cops come up on him, they have to do what they have to do, don't hesitate because this guy lend up killing you like they did the other people. rick: this guy was on the force in los angeles and he falsely accused a superior officer of beating a suspect. he made up a story and then had to go in front of this hearing, and it was his attorney, his attorney's daughter, he lost his job as a result of that hearing, so he went after his attorney's daughter. and that woman who is a basketball coach and her fiance were the first two victims in all of this. these revenge killings, how are they different from other types of murderers?
7:18 am
>> like i said, he has this manifesto where he's describing why he did it. now you have a desperate man doing desperate things, and now he's out there. and just showed you with that shootout with the police officers there, where he killed one, and shot three of them, he doesn't care about anything any more. and now it's just for him to make and get i hate to say it, he's going to try to get as much body count as he can, and these officers out there, remember, just opl m omni presence. this guy can't hide too long. everybody is on top of this. they have to hunt him down as quickly as possible. he's going to hurt and possibly kill more people unless they take him out. he's not going to go down surrendering, i think he's going to go down in a blaze of glory. he's not going to be wanting to be captured. he shot other police officers that had nothing to do with his manifesto or nothing to do with him being fired. >> bo diddle a former homicide
7:19 am
detective in the nypd thank you so much. martha: we'll stay on that story. back to the capitol for a moment here. there is senator inhofe as help question secretary leon panetta what he knew about benghazi, what the president knew about benghazi and you can watch it streaming as well. we'll take you back there as soon as the question-and-answer gets underway. we'll take a quick break and be back with more in "america's newsroom."
7:20 am
♪ gillette mach3 sensitive. llette. the best a man can get.
7:21 am
7:22 am
rick: a race against time in australia. take a look at this. crews are fighting a massive wildfire and they are bracing for conditions that are going to get worse. this is brand-new video of the flames burning in tahitia tazmania.
7:23 am
hundred of people have been evacuated and crews are warning other nearby communities that they may be in danger. this wildfire comes one month after the state's worth fire in half a century that destroyed almost 200 properties. martha: a scary situation for people on board a trolley in san francisco. it came to a sudden stop yesterday sending passengers flying around the car. at least seven people had to go to the hospital as a result of all this. you can see the cable car hit a bolt that was stuck into the tracks and it caused that car to come to a screeching halt. >> the people crashed into each other and then i hear scream. >> they stopped the car dead. we lost one person offer of the vehicle, a female fell off and hurt her leg. martha: those cable cars have been in san francisco and a symbol of the city for so many years. this was not a good day for them. the accident shut down two of
7:24 am
the city's busiest cable lines. investigators are trying to figure out where the bolt came from and whether it was part of the cable car track or whether somebody put it there. they are looking into it. rick: overseas now, brand-new video out of syria that shows the fighting intensifying in the capital city damascus. the regime is firing on strongholds in the outskirts of the city. this is the fiercest violence seen in weeks. it comes as hundreds of thousands of syrians head for the border with turkey to try to escape the fighting. greg palkot is live in turkey with more on that. >> reporter: we are at a border crossing in turkey. just about a half mile behind me syria and all the violence that means. that's why right next door is a refugee camp. we went in there today, it's a sprawling place, really a small city, something like 13,500 people there, mostly women and children. actually it's a pretty good one, there are shops, there's schools, there's a clinic, all the people there though have bad
7:25 am
stories to tell about bashar al-assad and his violence. that's it for now, back to you, rick. martha: we'll take you back to leon panetta the secretary of defense speaking on benghazi. let's listen. >> and friendship that i've had with all of you on both sides of the aisle. i've had the honor to in many ways live the american dream as the son of italian immigrants in the various capacities that i've had to serve this country. the greatest privilege i think i've had is to serve as an elected member in the house and had the opportunity to work with many you have in that capacity, and then as a member of the executive branch i had the opportunity to work with you as well. i thank you for your dedication to the country, and i thank you for your willingness to serve the united states. on that tragic day, as always, as the department of defense, we
7:26 am
were plea paired for a wide range contingencies. i just remind you that the nctc in the six months prior to that attack identified some 281 threats to u.s. diplomats, diplomatic facilities, embassies, ambassadors, and cons let's worldwide. and obviously benghazi was one of those almost 300 areas of concern. but unfortunately there was no specific intelligence or indications of an imminent attack on that u.s. facility in benghazi. and, frankly, without an adequate warning there was not enough time, given the speed of the ae attack, or armed military assets to respond. that is not just my view, or general dempsey's view, it was
7:27 am
the view of the accountability review board that studied what happened on that day. in the months since the tragedy at the temporary mission facility, and the nearby annex in benghazi we've learned that there were actually two short duration attacks that occurred some six hours apart. and, again, there was no specific intelligence that indicated that a second attack would occur at the annex, which was located some two miles away. the bottom line is this. that we were not dealing with a prolonged or continuous assault which could have been brought to an end by a u.s. military response, very simply, although we had forces deployed to the region. time, distance, the lack of an adequate warning, events that
7:28 am
moved very quickly on the ground prevented a more immediate response. despite the uncertainty at the time the department of defense and the rest of the united states government spared no effort to do everything we could to try to save american lives. before, during and after the attack ever request that the department of defense received we did, we accomplished. but, again, four americans' lives were lost, and we all have a responsibility to make sure that that does not happen again. the four americans who perished in benghazi, ambassador stevens, information management officer shaun smith and the security personnel all were heros, and all were patriots. i had the opportunity to join the president, secretary clinton and other officials at andrews air force base for the dignified
7:29 am
transfer ceremony when those bodies of those heroes were returned home, and i had the opportunity to meet with their families. i believe we all have a solemn responsibility to these families, and to all the diplomatic personnel who put themselves at risk, to find out exactly what happened, to bring those involved to justice, and to make sure that we're doing everything possible to prevent it from happening again, and to insure the safety of our personnel anna silt and and facilities worldwide. to that end the department of defense has fully supported efforts by congress and the state department to review the events and decisions surrounding the attacks in benghazi. we have made every effort to respond promptly to numerous requests for additional information, to provide briefings, to provide testimony to members and committees in the congress. in fact general dempsey and i were among the very first u.s.
7:30 am
government senior officials to brief congress on this tragedy. we appeared before this days after theptember 14th, attack, and provided the best information we had at that point as to what had taken place. additionally, the defense department participated in classified briefings and answered questions from the intelligence, foreign affairs, homeland security, oversight committees even when we were not called to testify. we've also provided all requested support to the accountability review board that was cochaired by ambassador pickering and admiral mullen. based upon the information we've compiled and the reviews we've conducted, let me describe for you dod's response to the events on september 11th. some of the lessons that we've learned, and the adjustments we are making to our global force posture, given continuing unrest
7:31 am
throughout north africa and the middle east. in fact, in many places if we get the heeds up tha heads up we need the changes we've made have already resulted in early decisions to deploy additional security or withdraw diplomatic staff in advance of a crisis from central america to khartoum, from tunisia to yemen, from egypt to mali and others. while dod does not have the primary responsibility for the security of u.s. diplomatic facilities around the world, we do work closely with the state department and support them as requested. in the months prior to the benghazi attack, as i've said, we had received from the intelligence community almost
7:32 am
300 reports on possible threats to american facilities around the world. over the course of the day on september 11th general dempsey and i received a number of reports of possible threats to u.s. facilities, including those in cairo, egypt, but there were no reports of imminent threats to u.s. personnel or facilities in benghazi. by our best estimate the incident at the temporary mission facility in benghazi began at about 3:42pm eastern daylight time on september 11th. the embassy in tripoli was notified of the attacks almost immediately, and within 17 minutes of the initial reports, about 3:59pm, africom directed an unarmed and unmanned surveillance aircraft that was nearby to reposition overhead the benghazi facility.
7:33 am
my understanding is that that uav arrived about an hour and 11 minutes after the attack had begun and was focused on the primary facility there to try to determine what was taking place. soon after the initial reports about the attack in benghazi were received general dempsey and i met with president obama, and he ordered all available dodassetts to respond to the attack in libya and to protect u.s. personnel and interests in the region. it's important to remember that in addition to responding to the situation in benghazi we were also concerned about potential threats to u.s. personnel in tunis, tripoli, cairo, sahna, and elsewhere that could potentially require a military response. in consultation with general dempsey and africom commander,
7:34 am
general hamm, i directed several specific actions. first, we ordered a marine fleet antiterrorism secure team, a fast team stationed in spain to prepare to deploy to benghazi. a second fast platoon was ordered to prepare to deploy to the embassy in tripoli. a special operations force, which was training in central europe was ordered to prepare to deploy to an intermediate staging base in southern europe. and a special operations force based in the united states was ordered to deploy to an intermediate staging base in southern europe as well at siganela. some have asked why some other types of armed aircraft president bush not dispatched to benghazi. ththe reason simply is that
7:35 am
armed uav's, gunships, or fixed wing fighters with the associated tanking, you've got to provide airy fueling abilities, armaments, you've got to arm all the weapons before you put them on the planes, targeting, and support facilities were not in the vicinity of libya. and because of the distance it would have taken at least nine to 12 hours if not more to tee employ thes deploy these forces to benghazi. this was pure and simple. in the absence as i said of any kind of advance warning a problem of distance and time. frankly, even if we were able to get the f-16s or the ac130s over the target in time the mission still depend on accurate information about targets they are supposed to hit, and we had no forward air controllers there.
7:36 am
we had no communications with u.s. personnel on the ground, and as a matter of fact we had no idea where the ambassador was at that point to be able to kind of conduct any kind of attacks on the ground. the quickest response option available was a tripoli-based security team that was located at the embassy in tripoli. to their credit within hours this six-man team, including two u.s. military personnel chartered a private airplane deployed to benghazi. within 15 minutes of arriving at the annex in a silt they came under attack by mortar and rocket-propelled grenade. members of this team, along with others at the annex facility provided emergency medical assistance and supported the evacuation of all personnel. only 12 hours after the attacks had begun all remaining u.s. government personnel had been
7:37 am
safely evacuated from benghazi. looking back our actions in the immediate aftermath of these attacks have been subject, obviously, to intense scrutiny and review. but let me share with you the conclusion of the accountability review board, which i believe accurately assessed the situation, and i quote "the inner agency response was timely and appropriate, but there simply was not enough time, given the speed of the attacks for armed u.s. military assets to have made a difference. senior level inner agency discussions were underway soon after washington received initial word of the attacks and continued throughout the night. the board found no evidence of any unto delays in decision making or denial of support from washington or from the military combatant commanders, quite the contrary, the safe evacuation of
7:38 am
all u.s. government personnel from benghazi 12 hours after the initial attack, and subsequently to the air force base was the result of exceptional u.s. government coordination and military response and helped save the lives of two severely wounded americans" still, after all of that it is clear that there are lessons to be learned here, and steps that must be taken to insure that we are doing everything possible to protect our personnel and our facilities abroad. so in concert with the state department and the intelligence community we are in the process of developing enhanced security for u.s. persons and facilities in the wake of benghazi. there will always be attention between mission effectiveness for personnel, the ability to get out and do what they are
7:39 am
supposed to do in these countries, and their physical security. we are committed to steps that avoid a bunker mentality and yet we still must afford greater protection from armed attack. we are taking steps along three tracks. first, host nation capacity. we have been able to better assess and build up the capability of host governments to provide security for u.s. personnel and facilities. the fact is, as you all know, that our embassies and consulates depend on host country personnel to provide the first line of security. and this episode raises concerns about the ability of some newly stabbed or fragile tkpofts t established or fragile governments to provide these facilities. to express these concerns we are
7:40 am
working with the state department to consider how dod can help host nations enhance the security provided to our diplomatic facilities. where permissible and appropriate in collaboration with the secretary of state and the u.s. chief of mission in the affected country, we believe that the defense department can assist in their development using a range of security assistance authorities to train and equip those forces in the host country, and we are doing exactly that. secondly, we have to enhance diplomatic security, we've got to harden these facilities, and we again are working with the state department to try to reassess diplomatic security overall, to determine what changes may be required we assisted the state department in the deployment of an inner agency security assessment team to evaluate the security level at 19 vulnerable diplomatic facilities, including our embassy in libya.
7:41 am
and we are in the process of developing recommendations on potential security increases as required. as part of this review we have also considered how the role, mission and resourcing of the marine security guard could be adapted to respond to this new threat environment. in the near term we've agreed with the department of state to add 35 new marine security guard detach -plts -plts, dee dee tafp -plts that is almost a thousand new marines. in addition to the what is there today we are working to identify where the new detach -plts will be and we will support this initiative. although there was not a marine security guard detachment posted to the benge million mission in
7:42 am
a silt based on our review of all incidents that occurred in september 2012 in tunis, in cairo, in car too many and in sanha we have initiated coordination with the department of state to expand the marine's role beyond their primary mission of protecting classified information. as some of you know their primary mission is not providing outside security, their primary mission is to protect classified information. but we believe that we can try to augment their role into terms of providing greater security protection as well. this could include the expanded use of nonlethal weapons, additional training and equipment to support the embassy regional security officers response options when host nations security force capabilities are at risk of being overwhelmed. the third area is enhanced
7:43 am
intelligence and military response capacity. we are focused on enhancing intelligence collection and insuring that our forces throughout the region are prepared to respond to crisis if necessary. the united states military, as i've said, is not, and frankly should not be a 911 service capable of arriving on the scene within minutes to every possible contingency around the world. the u.s. military has neither the resources, nor the responsibility to have a fire house next to every u.s. facility in the world. we have some key bases, particularly in this region. we have some key platforms from which we can deploy, and we have forces on alert and we are prepared to move, but our ability to identify threats, to
7:44 am
adjust posture, to prevent plots and respond to attacks to our personnel at home and overseas depend on actionable intelligence, and it always will. therefore, we're working with the state department and the intelligence community to insure that our collection and analysis is linked linked with military posture and enhancing. we are working to a a just the location of extremist reaction forces. we are working closely with state to insure they have our best estimate of response times for each at-risk diplomatic facility so they can make the best, informed decisions about adjustments to their staff presence in areas of increased security threat. we've deployed key response forces abroad. we have reduced their response
7:45 am
time. but let me again say to you, that even those forces that are on a tight alert time of n plus 2, notice plus 2 hours to be able to get on a plane, once those forces are put on air lift it still requires many hours in that part of the world to fly distances, long distances in order to be able to respond. i firmly believe that the department of defense and the u.s. armed forces did all we could do in the response to the attacks in benghazi. we employed every asset at our disposal that could have been used to help save lives of our american colleagues. we will support efforts to bring those responsible to justice. and we are working with the task force involved and headed up by the fbi to do just that. as i said going forward we intend to adapt to the security
7:46 am
environment to insure that we are better positioned and prepared to support the department of state in securing our facilities around the world. but in order to be able to effectively protect the american people and our interests abroad at a time of instability, we must have an agile and ready force able to quickly respond, and above all, and forgive me for being repetitious, we have got to end the cloud of budget uncertainty that hangs over the department of defense and the entire u.s. government. i've got to use this opportunity to express again my greatest concern as secretary, and frankly one of the greatest security risks we are now facing as a nation, at that budget uncertainty could prompt the most significant readiness military readiness crisis in more than a decade.
7:47 am
the department of defense faces the prospect of sequestration on march 1st. if congress fails to act sequestration is triggered, and if we also must operate under a year-long continuing resolution we would be faced with having to take about 46-plus billion dollars out of the defense budget and we would face a 35 billion-dollar shortfall in operating funds alone for our active forces, with only a few months remaining in the fiscal year. protecting the war fighters, protect being the critical deployments we have we are going to have to turn to the one area that we have in order to gain the fund necessary and that's readiness, that's maintenance. this will badly damage our national defense and compromise our ability to respond to crises in a dangerous world. the responsibility of dealing with this crisis obviously rests
7:48 am
with the leadership of the nation. i know the members of this committee share the deep concerns that i've raised about sequestration, and obviously i urge you to do whatever you can to try to avoid this threat to our national defense. the state department and the intelligence community obviously also must be provided the resources they need in orderexee expect of them, including the enhancements that i've described today. whatever teps are required to steps that have to be taken to posture us forces for possible u.s. emergency operations, those steps would be seriously impacted by the readiness crisis caused by uncertain resources. we have a responsibility, and i take that responsibility seriously to do everything we can to protect our citizens. that responsibility, however, rests with both the executive
7:49 am
branch and the congress. if we work together we can keep our americans safe. >> the outgoing defense secretary leon panetta in probably his last official appearance in front of a body that he served so long as a congressman from the state of california. on benghazi, telling senators, we did all we could do, saying that the problem in respond together terror attacks on the u.s. consulate were a matter of time, distance, and a lack of warning. then at the end his comments trying to put a scare into lawmakers saying that sequestration, automatic defense cuts that are set to take place to the pentagon and to other domestic agencies are his greatest concern that will put america at great risk. we'll talk with senator rand paul from kentucky when we come right back.
7:50 am
7:51 am
7:52 am
7:53 am
martha: we have been listening to testimony by the secretary of defensively on panetta and he talked about benghazi and there is no doubt that this has prompted a huge number of questions that these senators are likely to press him on. let's play a little bit of it for you then we'll talk to senator rand paul. >> this was pure and simple in the absence as i said of any kind of advanced warning a problem of distance and time. frankly, even if we were able to get the f-16s, ors ac130s over the target in time the mission still depends on accurate information about what targets they are supposed to hit. martha: this raises so many questions. i'm joined now by republican senator rand paul on the senate foreign relations committee. what i heard from that and you tell me what your take away was is that the u.s. military was not able to help out in this situation.
7:54 am
does that make sense to you? >> yeah, and i don't doubt that they tried to do everything they could, but he hit the nail on the head, time and distance, which begs the question, who made the decision not to have our ac130s closer, our f-16s closer. i think he does make a point that they can't always be there exactly when needed. however, the other command decision that secretary clinton made was why did we put someone into a situation like this without adequate military protection? i never would have had an embassy and still would not have an embassy in libya unless it were under the complete control of the military like the embassy was in the original days in baghdad. there is a great deal of similarity between libya and baghdad but not much similarity between paris and baghdad, and tar reus and benghazi. we should be treating libya as a war zone and the military should be in charge ever the security entirely until it is stable.
7:55 am
martha: it's not a situation where it popped up in an area where there had been no unrest. that we didn't have an eye on. this was with a dictator that was opposed. it was september the 11th. there were a number of who the spots across the region. agree with you. i don't think anyone is second-guessing the military in this. it's a question of planning and preparation in view of the world is it not in. >> absolutely. the person i second-guess is not the defense department, i second-guess secretary clinton for not having adequate security, for turning down security sore saying i have get a million cables, i didn't have time to read the cables asking for more security. i'm not asking that she read every cable from bull tkpwaeur are yeah to as tone yeah, like yeah was one of the most five dangerous places in the world by anybody opens calculation and it was inexcusable to not read the requests for security and have
7:56 am
her department turn down the requests for security really that was inexcusable and i really think there has not been enough made of the laps or lack of security in advance of the attacks. not the response after the attacks, because i think that will always be difficult, but really in advance of this it was a huge judgment error not to have more protection for our consulate and for our embassy still to this day in tripoli i think needs more security. martha: understood. and leon panetta admits that. he says we need to harden our facilities in these areas which i think would be very shocking to a lot of americans that in these very volatile areas they are not hardened facilities. just a lot of sort of fuzziness about the an tph-rbg ex, aboune tkp-rbgsx, what was going on there. he said he didn't have enough intelligence to know what was going on there. >> you have the cia a blockade way and you don't have enough intelligence as to what is going on? the one question lost in this
7:57 am
whole cover up with this movie being the cause, i really think part of the cause may have been that there was a gun running operation going on in benghazi leaving libya, going to turkey and distributing arms to the rebels. martha: when you brought that up, senator, excuse me nor piping in. when you brought that up in the hearing with hillary clinton she looked shocked. she said i have no idea what you're talking about, and we were just talking about jennifer griffin who said perhaps the tail end of your question wasn't included that gave it a little more context. >> well the thing is, is that they've interviewed the captain of the ship. a ship from libya sailed for turkey a week after the ambassador was killed. it was full of arms, and they interviewed the captain and he actually specifically talks about the distribution of the arms to syrian rebels. so it sound to me as if this is a story that's been reported in the london times, "the new york times," and really think the administration needs to answer, are they involved with running guns from turkey to syria. martha: you've raised the
7:58 am
question. we'll see if we hear more about it today. thank you very much. rand paul, senator, good to see you. >> thank you. rick: another hearing is straight ahead on capitol hill this time for the president's choice for cia director john brennan. lawmakers expected to get their hands-on classified reports detailing the drone program. that is coming up next. >> announcer: meet tom, a proud dad whose online friends all "like" the photos he's posting. oscar likes tom's photos, but he loves the access to tom's personal information. osr's an identity thief who used tom's personal info to buy new teeth and a new car, and stuck tom with the $57,000 bill. [tires squeal] now meet carl who works from the coffee shop and uses the free wi-fi. marie works from there too. she's an identity thief who used a small device to grab his wi-fi signal, then stole enough personal information to hijack and drain his bank accounts. every year, millions of americs learn all it may take
7:59 am
to devastate your life is a little personal information in the wrong hands. this is identity theft and no one helps stop it better than lifelock. lifelock offers the most comprehensive identity theft protection, period. ordinary credit monitoring services may take 30 days to alert you. lifelock's 24/7 proactive protection would have alerted tom as soon as they noticed an attack within their network, before it was too late. and lifelock's bank account takeover alerts could have notified carl in time to help him protect his money. lifelock protects your social security number, money, credit, even the equity in your home. while identity theft can't be completely stopped, no one protects you better than lifelock, and lifelock stands behind that with the power of their $1 million service guarantee. you have so much to protect and nothing to lose when you call lifelock right now and try 60 days of identity theft protection risk-free. 60 days risk-free. use promo code: be secure.

172 Views

info Stream Only

Uploaded by TV Archive on